Just hiking around the forest..

When you're low on cash, get back to the basics. Be one with nature. That's just what Jamie and I did. I have the mosquito bites on my foot and forehead to prove it. Jamie made out a bit better since she killed a bug and left its dead, lifeless mush on her hand as a warning to all other bugs. Though I suppose the moths couldn't avoid her even if they tried. Bugs asides, we had a nice, toll free time. Not to mention I unintentionally posed as the high school photographer, which was such an honor. Luckily there was lots of recreational things to photograph.

Life is a strange fast trip, I'm just glad we all have seats

I may or may not have mentioned in previous posts about the fantastic camera my father made the executive family decision to buy with my mother's money before their trip to California earlier this year. Despite the large financial weight a camera like this cost us, it's a great camera and when they move to California, I think I'm going to hide it from them. The really cool thing about this camera is my mother can use her lenses from her old film camera. So, she put this big sick lens on with the intent of trying to snag some close up shots of birds, and I did just that. But not some wussy bird feeder shot! Hell to the naw! Way up in a tree! Sick! I'm going to have to hide this lens too!

Why, they might even make a motion picture about you.

I finally finished this today. It's been something I've been working on here and there for a few weeks. God only knows why I'm drawn to doing things that require me to do so much detail. It was such a pretty scene. I couldn't resist it.

You killed my pine!

Visited the Trocodero in Philly to see Metric. The lay out of that old theater may have been fine in it's opening days, but it's kind of annoying now. The upstairs is only good if you can get there early enough to snag a seat and the floor is only good if you're really tall. And lots of people in this world are a great deal taller than me; even with my gigantic platform boots on. And worse than the tall people (who can't help being tall) are couples that go to shows. I'm sure there are plenty of couples that go to shows and aren't annoying, but if there are, they never stand near me. I'm always near some couple that's kissing and being overall annoying. The couple I got squished behind at this show really took the cake. I was really losing my temper with them. I was only able to vaguely see between their heads so OF COURSE they had to kiss like every 2 seconds. And the girl had to take pictures constantly which caused her to hold her camera up in my eye view over and over. And even worse than that is when they'd be trying again and again to get a cute couple shot DURING the show. Over and over she's holding the camera up and we're getting blinded by their flash. And I was hiding my face cause I don't want to be in their shitty photos! When another girl in front of me started dancing and lashing me with her hair, we decided to give up on our spot and move to the back. Which is where I actually enjoyed the show very much. Emily Haines is incredible. Not just as a musician, but that chick does her aerobics. I would have been laying on the floor wheezing if I did a show of that length with that much jumping, dancing, and high knee running! I have said quite a lot in this update. A lot of ranting. I just wanted to say the show was awesome. The audience, though? Bunch of tall a-holes!

Bobstock 2009

We were booked for Bobstock 2009 in the middle of 2008. We were booked for it when Nathan and Jimmy were both in the band. Back before Nathan moved to California for three months or Jimmy quit. Back before we had any idea that we'd go through two drummers and have an entire different guitarist by now. Be that as it may, we still played this show despite all the changes. And despite all the rain. It rained on and off during most of our set until we got to "Knife Fight" and the heavens opened up. Ah well. Rain, shine, or complete band over haul; the show must go on!

Cause I'm the apple and you're the tree

I haven't done many oil paintings. This is my third one. Perhaps I'll post up the other two I did one day. Oil paintings take a long time to do. Lots of waiting around for it to dry. Lots of building up and pre-planning. These are all things that I'm not great at. When I set out to paint this, I had a general idea of what I wanted to do and accomplish, but it definitely developed as it went along. But I'm pretty happy with how it came out. Two things I really love to photograph are the trees and the sky and so it's only natural that it's something I like to paint. Hm. I think that's all I have to say about that. Ciao!

I like me so much better when you're naked

You may or may not have heard of Ida Maria yet, but I stumbled upon her music on YouTube of all places late last year. Doesn't seem like it was that long ago, but it definitely was. Definitely rocked out to her music in Florida. Be that as it may, Jamie kept a much better eye on her developing career, buying her album and I suppose joining her mailing list that happily alerted her to the show Ida was playing at the North Star Bar. So, we hit it up. I was annoyed that the North Star Bar decided to remove all their tables and chairs from the room and the couch from upstairs. No where to sit! Not to mention the 40 minutes it took them to sound check for Ida. That kind of wait does not get me siked for a show. Cause all I think after everyone song is, "How much longer cause my feet are killing me.." And it was an alright show. Not the greatest I've ever seen. A lot of her songs are pretty similar to one another so I was a little bored at times. Not to mention she definitely won the award for the fugliest stage outfit I've ever witnessed. Some of Gwen Stefani's looks were bad at the show at the Tweeter the other night, but the horrible spandex leggings that Ida had on with that sparkly, old lady in Atlantic City vest was atrocious. Ah well. Pretty decent way to spend a Monday night!

She was an American girl

Due to extreme temperatures in my room, I'd lost touch with my music. Since my father put my air conditioner in my window yesterday, I was able to be reunited. Creativity was flowing til visiting family arrived and I had to leave it and go and be social. Which normally leads to my mother getting a fire going and me just playing with Gizmo and my camera. I quite like this photo. Gizmo is like king of the castle. Not a very fabulous, glamorous or regal castle, but it's home!

Heart Stock no. 4

Beyond Bounds

The fourth of my still unnamed series. It's been called "Trash Art" a lot, but I don't think that's really a good name since there's not really any actual trash besides the trash can in the first piece. That being said, I'm going to call the series "Heart Stock". It might be a rather obvious title since it's made of ripped up pieces of card stock. Less obviously, I feel like I'm sort of "taking stock" of some romantic themes. I don't know how to explain that any better. In my head it makes sense, though. I don't have to explain my art to you!!! ;)

Anyway, this piece took me a long time to complete. The longest out of all of them. And right now, it's my favorite one so far.

One last thing: Thanks to everybody who has commented and said they like these or have told me they like these. It's nice to hear. It's not necessary, but it's definitely appreciated and nice. Thanks!!

Let's get back

Believe it or not, I went and saw No Doubt at the TWEETER Center. I wasn't siked about it. A few years ago I would have, but that was before Gwen went solo and spread her annoying wings. And I felt really weird watching a show where there was no new music and it was just a bunch of songs you've heard a hundred times before. I mean, that's normal when it's at a festival show with all the short sets, but this was a full length show and song after song was an old song I already knew. It was weird. Even at Paul McCartney shows he plays his new music. I dunno. It was weird. It's hard for me to explain. The show was alright, though. Not great. The LED light show was better than some of the music going on. But it was pretty upbeat. Gwen has a lot of moves that I know I'll see in the club any day now. Too bad Lisa ate that bad sandwich...

You are a killer

Went to see The Hangover. I kept hearing it was funny and reading it was the hit of the summer and when most people are happy to hear good reviews like this, I get a little nervous. I hate hype. It's usually wrong. It usually lets me down. But in this case, I felt the hype was deserved. Zach Galifinakis' best role. Though, I Ed Helms and Bradley Cooper were not slackin. So, if you like crazy, sometimes slapstick comedies, go and see this movie. And, hey, Heather Graham is in it. Remember her?

You slay me

This is the card I made for Lisa for her birthday. It's safe to post now. And I feel like it's been a little too long since I put some art up in this blog. I need to get on the ball. I've been slacking a lot. When life weighs heavily on me it shows in my art, my music, and my messy room. I've been slacking in all three areas. Shit, I need to go set up the coffee maker. Can't slack on that. My granny needs her cup of joe!

ps. this is supposed to be Buffy

It just grew from there

Nathan left town. Again. This time he's trying out alternate living on the East Coast up in the lovely, and seemingly popular Brooklyn area. We'll see how long this one sticks. I give it 6 months. Then he'll come crawling back!! ;)

Don't murder a hobo on the first day, Nate!
ut oh.

take off my heels, i dont want to be a hooker ghost

Spent the day with Eavvon in Philadelphia. In the planning of this day, we planned to not make plans. I wasn't exactly thrilled with this plan, but he insisted and it turns out that not making plans is a bad plan. Doesn't mean that we had a bad day, but it did result in my having some serious blisters and not being able to show off my amazing bowling skills the following night. Despite that, I learned some things about Philadelphia that I didn't know. I also learned some things about my feet and my flip flops. And I learned a lot about the care of blisters too. Too much to share in any great detail, but trust me. I know a thing or two about a thing or two. Mmmmhmmmmm (Sling Blade)

Happy Birthday, Uptown!

Finally Leesa decided it was time for her to play catch up and turn 25. For her birthday, I pretended I had glasses. I do have glasses. But I never wear my glasses. I wear contacts. But I do have glasses, though. They just happen to give me a headache and I don't like not being able to see anything when I look down, left or right without moving my head. So, like the smart ass that I am, I bought a pair of clear glasses and wore those. Though, in this picture, I'm not wearing them, Lisa is. But she didn't get to keep those. So, great present, huh? I also got her a shirt that mocked one of her favorite hobbies. All in all, I'm a pretty terrible friend; terribly awesome! But, oh what a night it really was, oh what a night it really was... Hope you had a happy birthday, dude! Too bad it couldn't have lasted longer! Stupid time! Next year I'll try to stop time for you! If Zach Morris can do it, how hard can it be?

Are you Hootie?

Got home pretty late, as in pretty early, and hung around thinking that my mother was going to have some crazy early flight to get up for and it turns out she didn't have to leave until nearly 9am. So, I didn't wind up going to bed until after that. Then I drug myself out of bed in order to go to my hair appointment. Should have blew off the hair appointment and everything else and gone to Florida with her. Not only would it have saved me a lot of grief, but I could have gotten a free tattoo. Yes, my mother got her first tattoo AND it was FREE. My mother is street rat crazy. I love her. Which is the most obvious thing ever.

Do your worst

Despite our lack of ark, Jamie and I went to Jammin' Java to take part in the bass player coalition going on in Vienna, Virginia. Mostly former Army of Me bassists were present, but Jamie fit right in. I was hoping that I'd meet some bass players that aren't mean bullies, but all I found is that no matter what bass players you're around or what state you're in, they're always going to group together and bully everyone based upon what instruments people do or do not play. Can't win with bass players. Furthermore, I hope they know that they're lovable whether or not they play bass or not. Though, I'd probably love them more if they let me live!

Depressed skull fracture

Fatal Flaw

The third in my crumpled paper series. I still don't have a name for it. There was "Heart Attack" and "Trash Art Heart" and now this one. I don't know if you're getting sick of these, but I've recently been kicking around the idea of some others. So, I hope these are enjoyable to someone...

And my head STILL hurts

It's never a good sign when my room starts looking like this. I'm one of those people that keeps a pretty tidy room and I tend to clean it every night before bed. I just feel better going to bed with things organized, but when I'm in a bad mood my priorities shift. They shift into "I don't care about anything" and thus cleaning up before bed was left by the wayside. But! Despite my mood (my headache)! I cleaned my room! It's clean now! Did I take a picture after though? Nope. That definitely fell by the wayside. Eh, can't win them all. You'll have to just take my word for it.

He's got to find his own pizza party

Went to the Wildwood pier for a taste of summer times. It wasn't too summery feeling since it was dark and somewhat windy, but that didn't stop any of the scantily clad ladies from coming out. I don't get it, though. Are those girls cold and just pretending they're not or are they really not cold? Does their metaphorical (and usually imaginary) hotness keep them warm? Well, however they do it, I hope it's worth it. I hope the nab themselves a decent guy. There's so many of them just trolling the boards down there. Yelling at you from their car window. If I could withstand the chill, maybe I wouldn't still be single. OH SIGH! I could have like a few babies by now! Damn my low tolerance for cold!

Stop! Don't do that!

Lisa was lost for awhile,
but she's turned up.

Yay! I'm a complete person
once again!

Happy Birthday, Peepaw!

Nathan went ahead and aged a score and a 1/4. I think that's wrong. I can't remember. But it sounded very cool when he said it. Not nerdy at all. The words of a man that parties very hard. That damn near parties his brain out. And though the original plans were sidetracked because of an unvalidated human, I think the night was still pretty delightful. Even though I was a little concerned being in a place that sells car bombs for $8. Kind of scary. But, they had ponies for only a dollar so... forgiven! I always wanted a pony!

You can't wear those futuristic things in 1885

Dance! Dance! Dance! from jenell o'boogie on Vimeo.

Today a fantastic dancer was born. This video I made features a lot of dancing. I didn't necessarily make this little video with him in mind, but I do think it's the perfect day to post it! Happy Birthday, Eeeeeee-vooonnn!!

I won't upset the apple cart, I only want what I can get

Heart Attack

Since I did "Trash Heart Art" I've been bouncing around other ideas under this same theme. So, I guess this will go in my series. I don't know what to call the series yet, but we'll just see where it goes and worry about labels later. It's a coincidence that I did an armed forces sort of theme on Memorial Day weekend. But I guess it's a nice coincidence. Perfect little Memorial day post. I'm so festive! This one actually took me a lot longer to do than the other. I was trying to achieve a certain look; a little more damaged. Hearts, but more torn and thrashed. A bit like shrapnel. And I like to think that it can be interpreted in a few ways. Under the viewer's discretion of course..

Happy Memorial Day!

Sleepin with a gun under my pillow

The other week, I made a minor personal record of going to see three different movies in one week. A hat trick, if you will. Well, this week I fulfilled another hat trick of sorts by seeing some form of Wolfman Fran band configuration. First at the Fire in Philly, then at the Fuel House in Vineland and finally at the Bus Stop Cafe in Pitman. Don't get me wrong. I'm not obsessed. Went to the Fire with the soul reason of supporting a good band that also happens to be comprised of friends, but the other two times were just convenient as I was playing the shows they were playing, essentially. Alright. I'm full of shit. I'm obsessed with them. I can't get enough of Ron's diligence, Fran's sound checks, and Steve's ability to make doing nothing look good. And really, when you go to one of their shows, every time is completely different than the last. Never know what you're gonna get!

We all shine on

Of course the weekend that I would really just love to lay around, be lazy, and heal is the weekend that I'm the most busy. But one show down, one more to go! Tomorrow is going to be a loooong day. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

I was around a long time before you

I like Mojitos. For a while, the only place I could get one was at TGIFriday's. Not very many bars or restaurants have the mint stuff required to make them. Anyway, I've been seeing them in more places and they tend to come around in the warmer months. Even better than that is they're offering them in all different flavors now. With fresh fruit and all. They always amuse me because the fruit gets trapped in the straw and then I get to blow it out. It's the little things in life, ya know?

Hi Ho Mojito!

You grow it, I mow it.

It's gotten to the point where I'll do just about anything for a little money (within reason!). It's come to hard physical labor; mowed my grandmother's enormous yard. It wasn't too terrible since I got to use the riding mower! I wouldn't say it was easy, but it was clearly a lot easier than pushing a mower around that yard. The grass was higher than my knees in parts. I was on that thing for about 3 hours and it was actually pretty enjoyable. Felt nice to be doing something outside that required no thought, talent, or emotion. I could just do it and not think for awhile. Next time I think I'd like to bring my ipod, but it wasn't that bad without it. I felt like my brain got to rest from its constant circles. It surely doesn't stop to allow me to sleep. So, I would suggest lawn mowing. It's blissfully mindless. But don't forget your sunblock! Speaking of which, why does sunburn itch?

Keeping a secret can only lead to trouble

Despite the weird placement of this band-aid, it did actually protect a painful little gash I have on my knuckle. And, let's be honest, I have some really cute band-aids (thanks James!). And I was thinking, I really want to design my own band-aids some day. I think I'd make cute band-aids. Yes, some of them would have robots on them. Maybe a lot of them. But I could branch out. It's not impossible. I have other creative thoughts. I just really love robots. What's not to love about robots? Anyway, I had a really terrible migraine earlier so I didn't do anything other than be miserable. I'll get cracking on my band-aid designs later. ;)

One man's trash...

Trash Heart Art

I didn't scan this because the hearts are made out of pieces of colored card stock that I tore up into tiny pieces and glued on. I thought scanning it would diminish the texture of it. but I guess maybe my photography didn't do it much justice either. Ah well. Anyway, I guess I'd have to say this piece was inspired by some former trash heart art I did in the past with a beer label and just a lot of the recent bullshit that's been going on in my life. I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. I've been so uninspired and unmotivated lately. Haven't been able to finish anything. But this just came right together and it felt good to finish something. And to like the result.

And it was all yellow

It was pointed out to me that I haven't been posting lately. This is true. So here's a doodle I worked up. It kills two birds with one stone. It fulfills my quota and explains why I haven't been doin' shit.

Someone's knocking on the door

Here's something I've been working on for a little while. I don't know when I'll finish this. It's pretty complex and still only in the beginning stages. That's what I've been working on and thus not finishing anything else. I should do a little Disney sketch to keep my blog alive! We'll see. I've actually been busy lately. I know, it's a shock!

You send me, honest you do.

As promised, here's the piece of artwork I did for my mother for Mother's Day. Of course I put it in a nice frame and what not, though. This scan is not very flattering. This is another piece I think I should have just photographed rather than scanned. Oh well!

Mami Mom Day 2009

In an attempt to show my appreciation for the many, many things my mother has done, does and tolerates, I put together a little Mother's Day surprise for her. Got my brother in on it and we took her to one of her favorite restaurants. It was a good time. Considering my brother is pretty financially stable, he got whatever his heart desired and encouraged my mother to do the same. It hurt a bit. I won't deny it. I had to drink my woes away. And that drink was like $6. Oh well. You only live once. And she's worth it! She's not only totally adorable, but she's one of my truly favorite people. I'm glad she's my mom. Relieved, actually. I've met a lot of mothers. I would not want any of those! Well, I guess I would probably be okay with it, but I think I'm definitely very blessed! Tomorrow I'll finally post the piece of art I created for her Mother's Day gift. It's super cute!

This is just the first step

I've been slacking off on "photo documentation" and completing any artwork so here I am posting someone else's. This is from the lavatory in the Auburn Road Winery where our band played. Steve is hoping my mother will recreate it for him. Maybe I should have told him I've wanted to her to do another portrait of John Lennon for years and she's yet to do that either! I don't know when this is ever going to actually happen!

I'm thinking Arby's

Today our band played the 89th Wilmington Flower Market Carnival. Rocked the Arby's stage. The rain God's tried to destroy the whole day and wash the whole thing out. A lot of acts and events were canceled because of the torrential rains and then the bonus thunder and lightening. We were nearly canceled, but suddenly the weather cleared and we were able to go on. The stage was great, but the conditions in the grass were sad. Like walking in water chocolate pudding. I think they call it mud. I definitely felt for my parents and friends. Following us, there was a 7th grade cover band from the high school across the street. I'm not sure what's saddest; opening up for 7th grader, the fact that their audience was about 10 times bigger than ours, or that I got an enormous bruise on my leg from my tambourine! I dunno though, that's pretty hardcore. I rocked the shit outta that tambourine!

Remember, we're a solar system

A little watercolor I did the other night. Obviously darkened with the magic of computers. Watercolor doesn't tend to be quite so vivid. I don't really have anything else to say... bee bop.

This song explains why I'm leaving home

A few nights ago I did this, but tonight I feel it's appropriate to post. Today I went to the Lollipop Tree to see about getting a job being a cake decorator. Well, mostly just an extra hand during their busy season. It went well and they may call me if they need me, but it was like a trip down memory lane when I wrote down my name and phone number. When I was in Kindergarten, my first "boyfriend" was a boy by the name of Gabriel. His family owns the Lollipop Tree. Amazingly enough, she recognized my name and then we spent a little time talking about Gabe and how funny it was that I was in there asking for job now. Oh how funny life is. Things are really going full circle now.

RIP Dom Deluise

May the 4th Be With You

It's really hard to capture this in a photo, but the Coke on the left is actually square. What happened to you, Mr. Coke Can?!

Cartoons by Lady Jaja

Definitely have been having a very lazy Sunday around here today. Haven't done barely anything except sit at this computer and play with my "mouse pen".

For a while, all it did was frustrate me. Which is what it normally does when I sit down to use it which leads to me giving up and doing something else.

Well, today I persevered and it paid off! I think I've gotten a much better idea of its functions and what to do and how to do it. Starting to get a little technique rather than just drawing scribble.

So, to fulfill my artistic obligations for the day, I bring you the fruits of my mouse pen labors! I also made a new background for the band myspace, so check that out if you're interested.

My arm is killing me now. It's definitely a much different pose I have to hold to use it than a normal pencil. Ah well. You tell me, was it worth it?

I have to kill to make it true

For the sake of having a good time and not being tempted to spend the whole show taking pictures, I didn't bring my camera to the Fameball. I wanted to dance! So, instead of posting a photo of Jamie's, the blurry crap I took with my phone, or stuff I could google, I opted to sketch Lady Gaga myself! It scanned terribly. It's very hard to scan pencil. The only way to get them to show up at all is to turn up the contrast and that doesn't always do it justice. The subtly is lost. Maybe I should have just taken a picture of it instead. Hmm. Maybe I'll try that later. If you'd like to see the original I used for comparison sake, clicky click. I obviously removed her hand. It was taking attention off of her face. Just always looked awkward. I wanted the attention to be on her eyes. And trust me, it looks a lot better without the hand. My attempts at making her hand not look awkward were completely in vain! haha

Anyway, I really had a good time at the Fameball (I just like saying that). Lady Gaga has got to be one of the oddest entertainers out there right now. I just saw Factory Girl a few weeks back so Andy Warhol things are fresh in my mind and I completely understood what she was doing, but it was very odd nonetheless. But it was great. I had a lot of laughs, sang songs I love, and got a plethora of hot new dance moves to bring to da club! And, look, she even got me out of my sketch slump!

The perfect sum up: Thanks Gaga! (yeah, that's an in-joke.)